Reunion, and Tragedy
by spikelauncher
Summary: *Warning* - Contains strong elements of ryona, or violence against females. If that isn't your thing, do us both a favor and do not read this. Set three years after the events of Star Ocean - Second Evolution. A reunion between the heroes turns into disaster at the return of an ancient enemy.
1. Reunion, and Disaster

The slow trickling of the spring water was probably the most soothing sound Rena had heard.

Sitting in the artificially created hot spring bath in Fun City, she found it hard to imagine that they had built such a peaceful and tranquil place in what was probably the most bustling and flamboyantly entertaining place on Nede II. The rocks framing the hot springs were artificial, but they looked and felt very real indeed, enveloping the bath with the warm, rustic atmosphere of the countryside.

Rena stretched out her legs, savoring the scent of the herbal, scented steam. The water lapped at her shoulders, tugging gently at her breasts. She looked up at the sky, reminiscing on memories that sometimes seemed to be from lifetimes ago, yet at other times seemed to come from only yesterday. The story that had molded her life into what it was today wasn't overly long, but it was certainly the most eventful one she - and probably anyone - would ever have.

Claude. The most important person in her life. Her first and only true love. They had left together, after defeating the Ten Wise Men on the planet that Nede II was named after, Energy Nede, three years ago. She had learned so much from and with him, proudly watching as he climbed the ranks of the Pangalactic Federation, eventually captaining his own ship, on which they traveled together for over a year. They had seen the far reaches of the galaxy, sharing moments of excitement and romance, deep within the mysterious and beautiful expanses of star-studded space, that they had come to call the Star Ocean.

The others had gone on their ways as well, some together, some alone. Ashton had gone back to be with Eleanor, the girl they had saved back on Expel. Celine had married Prince Clyde of Krosse, while Opera had left with Ernest for their home planet of Tetragenesis. Bowman returned to his life with Ninay on Expel, but visited Earth frequently with Leon; the former to study and gather medicines, the latter to research and meld science and symbology. Chisato and Welch had begun touring and living on Expel together, while Noel had taken an interest in developing the zoological systems of Expel with technology borrowed from Nede, with Precis helping him. Dias, predictably, continued journeying alone on Expel, although Rena knew he visited the others fairly often.

In honor of the lost planet of Energy Nede, Claude and Opera had pooled the resources of their home planets and built a small, artificial planet, modeled after the original Nede and named Nede II. Although it was relatively tiny compared to the original Energy Nede, they had tried to rebuild it in as much a likeness as possible, complete with the cities of the Centropolis, Armlock, Princebridge, and Fun City. The Nedians may have been lost forever apart from Rena, Noel and Chisato, but their legacy lived on in Nede II.

It had been Opera's idea to bring everyone back together for a reunion holiday at Nede II's Fun City. And after almost four hours of enjoyment, they had all retired to the baths, sated with rekindled comradeship and happiness.

A laugh and a series of splashes brought Rena back to the present as Precis and Celine dropped down into the spring beside her. "Couldn't let you have the herbal bath all to yourself!" said Celine, settling herself down beside Rena, "What's going through your mind?"

"Claude of course," said Precis mischievously, splashing at them both, "What else? That expression on her face is the exact same one when she looks at Claude - which hasn't changed from three years ago."

"Oh, grow up, Precis," said Rena, clearing the water from her face, "Certainly seems like you haven't changed either."

"I doubt any of us have, very much," said Opera, joining them in the bath and settling down beside Celine, hugging her long, slender legs to her chest, "Look over there. Those two are as lively as ever." She gestured to the bigger pool, where Chisato and Welch were splashing at each other rather vigorously and giggling, causing quite a bit of annoyance to the other occupants of the bath.

"Oh, we've certainly changed," said Precis with a naughty grin, "Some of us have grown _bigger_." She cast a meaningful glance at the girls' chests, and puffed out her own. "I've moved on since sixteen, you know."

"Oh, Precis," laughed Rena, "Spending time with someone like Noel certainly hasn't changed your style of humor."

"Hey, it wasn't a joke!" exclaimed Precis, "You've probably outclassed me by a bit though, but Opera and Celine still beat both of us."

"That sounds oddly disturbing, you know," began Celine, before Welch suddenly jumped into the water right in between them with a large splash. "What's up, ladies!" she exclaimed, as Chisato slipped in beside her. "What're you all talking about?"

"Breasts!" blurted Precis happily, causing Rena to groan while the others laughed.

"Ahh, reminds me of the time Claude walked in on us eating steamed buns back in the old Nede Fun City," said Welch, "But only I got the joke then!"

"Joke? What joke?" asked Rena. She only vaguely remembered that episode, and had felt a little guilty at not having invited Claude for a steamed bun.

"Innocent as always, Rena," giggled Welch, "But yours have definitely grown!"

"Hey, why don't you notice mine!" said Precis, dismayed.

"All right girls, enough of this talk," said Opera, laughing, "It's about time to get changed. Wouldn't want to keep the men waiting."

The girls hauled themselves out of the bath and walked to the changing room and lockers, with much amused squabbling between Precis and Welch.

As Rena toweled herself off, she couldn't help but look at herself in the locker door's small mirror. Precis's comment had brought funny thoughts into her head. 'Claude sometimes tells me how beautiful I am,' she mused quietly, studying her breasts, 'Do these make me attractive to him too?' She ran a hand over her breasts and nipples. Claude didn't fondle them all that much when they made love, but she always liked it when he did. Her gaze ran down her reflection, coming to rest on her groin, where tufts of her blue pubic hair grew over her underparts. 'Thanks Precis, you made me all conscious of our bodies now,' she thought. She glanced around at the other girls.

Precis was right, though; Celine and Opera certainly had pretty large breasts, though of course they were older than her. She watched as Celine laid a strip of white cloth horizontally over her breasts, covering her nipples, and wound it around her back and over her breasts several times to hold them, before tying it in a knot at her side. She then took another strip of white cloth and passed it in between her legs, pulling it up snugly against her crotch, where a fine layer of silvery hair grew. She then pulled the cloth up between her buttocks and over the front of her groin, winding it around the tops of her legs several times and tying a knot at her hip, vaguely resembling a Japanese _fundoshi_ she had seen in her trips with Claude on Earth. 'Seems your adherence to Marze's symbologist attire hasn't changed even over three years,' thought Rena, amused.

The other girls wore more conventional underwear, by all means. Opera's bra had black straps and white cups with a smattering of black polka dots on them. She looked very elegant even while dressing, as she stepped gracefully into a pair of panties with a black back and white front, also decorated with black dots and lace around the leg holes. Yellow pubic hair grew over her groin, which, though thick and long, was hardly messy as it curled neatly downward over her vulva.

Precis had the smallest breasts, though they were still pert and perky and by no means unattractive. She clipped a pale green bra over them, decorated with prints of tiny flowers. The color and design on Precis's panties matched her bra, and over them she pulled on a pair of elastic, black short-shorts, which Rena guessed would extend a little below the hemline of her skirt.

Chisato, possibly true to her nature, wore a sports bra; a pale blue one which stretched tightly over her breasts, the outline of her nipples showing fairly clearly on the elastic fabric. 'Is that actually comfortable?' Rena wondered. She had never worn one; a normal, snugly-fitting bra was enough for her on the fairly rare occasion she engaged in physical activity. A swirl of brown pubic hair covered Chisato's genital area, which vanished from view as she pulled on a pair of fairly plain white panties, with lace trims framing her groin.

Out of all the girls, Welch seemed to be the only one with a bare pubic area; her vulva was shaven and clean-looking, the skin on her labia slightly darker than the rest of her body. She pulled on a pair of light purple - violet, was it called? - panties, patterned with large red swirls; 'An interesting design for an interesting person,' Rena thought, bemused. A matching bra followed, after which Welch pulled on a pair of dark blue tights.

Rena suddenly realized she was the only one still naked. She pulled her underwear out of her locker, a set of fairly plain, pink bra and panties, with just a tiny bit of lace design on the front, and put them on. Interestingly, everyone had opted to wear the same clothes they had worn when they had last been together three years ago - which was fine with Rena, as this was the way she knew and loved her friends best, and she smiled with the memories as she slipped into her blue skirt and adorned her hair with the yellow crescent-shaped hairpin. Looking around, she watched fondly as her friends put on those same familiar clothes she remembered so well, with Precis heaving the mechanical backpack onto her shoulders, and Opera attaching her Kaleidoscope Ray Gun, which now telescoped into a small, pistol-sized form, to her hip.

"Shall we go?" asked Celine, as Rena closed her locker. They walked out the changing room together, chatting cheerfully, before a sudden loud rumble from outside caught their attention.

'Wow, what was that?" said Chisato, "Sounded almost like thund-"

She didn't finish her sentence, as another huge rumble followed by a sound that was clearly an explosion and a shaking of the ground nearly knocked them all off their feet.

"An earthquake?" yelled Celine, struggling to keep her balance.

"Impossible," said Opera, completely bewildered, "This is an artificial planet, it can't have earthquakes. It sounded more like something exploded outside."

"Outside - Claude!" cried Rena, running along the corridor of the bathhouse to the exit, with the others following suit, trying to stay on their feet as more explosions followed and screams began to erupt from inside and outside the bathhouse.

Abruptly, just as they were about to reach the exit, a chain of explosions erupted in the bathhouse behind them, the shock wave throwing them forward to tumble out the door of the building. Rena looked back in horror as explosions ripped through the bathhouse, sending bricks and shattered wall flying into the air along with sprays of water and blood as the occupants were caught in the devastation. The naked bodies of the hapless bathing girls and women were thrown into the air along with the body parts of those whose bodies were shredded by the blasts.

It was only when the roof of the bathhouse was blown off did Rena see that the explosions were caused by beams of light cast from above. "Those were - those were energy rays!" cried Opera, struggling to her feet along with the others, "Someone's attacking the city!"

Rena looked up. Fun City was now a picture of destruction, buildings and amusement rides had been damaged, and rubble and bodies lay everywhere. And at the center of the destruction, not a hundred meters away from them, were a circle of humanoid silhouettes - nine in total, some standing on the ground, some floating in the air. It was obvious that these were the culprits of the destruction; beams and arcs of energy, fire and lightning that seemed both magical and technological radiated from the figures, destroying everything they hit, while a few of them wielded massive weapons that looked like two-handed swords which knocked down concrete walls and sent jagged cracks through the ground with every stroke.

Rena stared at the figures, feeling something familiar and sinister about them. The cries of her friends grew quiet as the figures drew closer, continuing to cast destruction from the tips of their fingers, the edges of their blades and the blows from their fists. A group of teenage girls ran toward them, screaming in fear, before a bolt of lightning arced toward them, splitting and striking two of them at once, sending them flying to the ground, their bodies smoking and spasming. A ray of scintillating energy struck another girl, who promptly blew into pieces, chunks of her body and her entrails flying in all directions, as a fireball hit and incinerated the girl beside her, burning her down to a charred skeleton in a matter of seconds. The last girl stumbled and fell, and was caught in a wide beam of white light; a tractor beam, as it pulled her back screaming toward the nine figures, one of whom sliced her in half horizontally at her torso with his massive blade, then kicking aside the halves of her body like they were common garbage.

And as they watched the carnage, Rena realized suddenly why they looked so familiar. Why there was an insidious air about them that she knew she had felt before. And judging from the expressions on her friends faces as their minds went blank and their bodies went cold with shock, they had also identified the figures approaching them. They could never forget.

The Wise Men had returned.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading this first chapter on my Star Ocean - Second Evolution short story.<p>

The next chapter will be the last, and I look forward to putting it up soon.

Again, as I warned in the story summary, this story contains descriptions of graphic violence against females, and the second chapter is where that is brought out in greater detail. If that is not your cup of tea, then please kindly refrain from reading it to save both of our time.


	2. To The Death

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the very people we were hoping to meet again," sneered Lucifer, as he descended to the ground in front of the shocked group along with the other Wise Men who were aloft.

"No!" cried Rena, "No, no, no! This can't be!" The expressions on her friends' faces echoed her shock.

"We defeated you in Phynal three years ago! You can't be here!" cried Opera.

"And here I was, hoping for a tearful reunion," said Lucifer, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Is that seriously the first thing you say to someone after three years?"

"You - no, this cannot be!" Rena could barely contain her shock. "How did you come back?"

"Well, I'm afraid that you never truly defeated us; or at least, not Lucifer," said Camael, his one eye fixed unblinkingly on Rena, "You see, Lucifer had left a clone of himself back on Expel right before Energy Nede collided with it. The clone had all his exact memories, personality, and powers."

"A safeguard. In case things, for whatever reason, did not go according to plan." said Lucifer, his eyes glittering with malice, "You destroyed my other self on Energy Nede before the Symbol of Annihilation destroyed the planet. But then, you had to have the Nedians use their time displacement field to bring Expel back, didn't you? And of course, when you brought Expel back into existence - "

"We brought you back as well," whispered Celine, her voice quiet with horror.

"Indeed," laughed Lucifer, "You probably already know - or not, in your ignorance - that we Wise Men are biological weapons, created for destruction. And it was no easy task re-creating all of my comrades, especially with the technological limitations of Expel, I assure you."

"But he did, for all of us," said Haniel, "It took almost three years, but he re-created us and all of our powers. And we're back, stronger than we've ever been before."

"You're missing a member," Opera pointed out, "Didn't feel like bringing Gabriel back, did you?"

"Ah, Gabriel," said Lucifer, smirking, "The poor, broken-hearted Doctor Lantis, so torn over the loss of his beloved daughter. I didn't need him then, and I don't need him now. No, we are nine now, and more than enough for any action we wish to undertake."

Rena looked around desperately, and her heart went cold with shock as she saw the pile of rubble that was the male bathhouse. Even if they were still alive, they would be helplessly trapped under the fallen concrete. "No, Claude," whispered Rena, her eyes filling with tears. The others followed her gaze, gasping with horror as they saw what she saw.

"What? Oh," said Lucifer, as he looked over at the remains of the male bathhouse, "Our dear men, trapped under an immovable pile of stone. Well, if it's any consolation, Zaphkiel only knocked out the building foundations; we didn't blast it. So your beloved comrades may be still alive - not that I'm assuming you'll also be alive to see them, of course, as I hardly expect you to _stand aside and quietly allow us to go on with our work_." He laughed coldly.

Angry tears ran down Rena's face as she clenched her fists. "No, Lucifer," she said, her voice laden with quiet resolve, "We're going to stop you." Opera pulled her weapon from its holster, the Kaleidoscope Ray Gun telescoping to its full size, as Chisato whipped out her taser and Welch her handy stick. Precis hit a button on the side of her pack and a pair of mechanical arms popped out, flexing menacingly. A wave of her hand, and Celine's staff appeared in her hand, suffused with a soft glow.

"I expected so," laughed Lucifer again, "Well, let's make it a fair fight then, shall we? Nine on six - I hardly expect that to be enjoyable at all. Let's see - Jophiel, Zadkiel and Camael, you three can sit this one out. Return to the ship - I want no interference."

"I bid you six farewell," said Camael graciously, "We won't be seeing you again."

"No! You won't get away with this!" cried Rena, as the three vanished from view, teleporting away.

"Concern yourself not with them," said Metatron, hefting his sword and stepping forward, "For death lies before you."

"No," replied Opera calmly, "We'll defeat you again, and save the entire galaxy once more."

"So near sighted, so trivial," sneered Lucifer, "I think you'll find that this time, the fight will go a lot differently than before. Wise Men, attack!"

The six Wise Men fanned out and advanced, with Zaphkiel and Metatron charging directly at the girls with frightening speed.

"Oh no, you don't!" yelled Chisato, sidestepping in front of Rena and Opera, with Precis stepping in beside her, pressing a button on her pack's controller. "Take this!" she shouted, as her pack's mechanical arm formed a fist and launched it out at the oncoming Zaphkiel.

A blast of lightning, radiating from under Raphael's sleeves, obliterated the rocket punch, however, as Zaphkiel swung his sword viciously at Chisato, who dodged and lashed out with her legs, trying to trip him. Precis rolled her robot Robbie out in front of her, morphing it into a giant robot mech with a drill, and charged at the oncoming Metatron.

Behind them, Celine was invoking symbols and whispering incantations as she began to cast, while Opera began firing bolts of plasma at the floating Lucifer and Raphael, who repelled them effortlessly with almost careless waves of their hands. "Incoming!" yelled Welch suddenly, as a blast of fire roared toward them, forcing Celine to interrupt her casting and leap aside with Rena and Opera. Michael lowered his hand, wisps of flame rising off it, a grim sneer on his face. He and Haniel had flanked the group, and were leering at them from each side.

"They're forcing us to take them one on one," said Opera through gritted teeth, as she adjusted several switches on her Ray Gun. Spinning, she took aim at Michael and fired a freezing wind, which he countered with a stream of flame. In front of them, Chisato was desperately dodging Zaphkiel's deadly sword; he swung it extremely fast, much faster than she had remembered, giving her almost no time to counterattack. Rena raised her hands, intending to cast a Light Cross directly at Zaphkiel, trying to blind him to give Chisato an opening, when a cascade of crackling lightning bolts from Raphael forced her to conjure a barrier instead to defend herself and Celine.

Haniel began to stalk toward the two of them, energy arcing over his fists. "Stand aside, Rena!" shouted Celine, as she completed a spell with a flourish of her staff. A whirling formation of light bolts formed in front of her and flew straight at Haniel, who leapt to the side and dodged a few of them, before batting the others away with his fists. Welch immediately ran at him, trying to press the attack, swinging her handy stick fiercely.

Beside Chisato and Zaphkiel, Precis was getting very frustrated indeed. Her Robbie's massive drill simply could not get past Metatron's invincibility barrier. 'Got to hit him from different angles at once,' she thought, pulling out a device from her pack and tossing it to the ground, where it morphed into a miniature satellite dish. "Take that! Parabola Beam!" she yelled, as it fired a series of energy rings at Metatron's side. The armored man simply raised his shield and deflected it, however; the rings bounced off and almost hit Chisato, who cartwheeled desperately to avoid them.

Zaphkiel immediately pivoted, his sword switching direction mid-swing, and Chisato saw the danger too late. Her cry of horror became a shriek as Zaphkiel's massive blade swung upward in between her legs, slamming into her crotch with devastating force. The edge of the blade cut easily through Chisato's pants and underwear, slicing up into her underparts and parting her body from her groin to her belly.

Chisato's blood and urine splattered the ground under her as the girls screamed her name. Zaphkiel lifted Chisato's trembling body up with his blade, then threw her with a swing straight at Rena. "Mend this, healer!" he snarled. Chisato landed at Rena's feet, her arms splayed and her legs splayed even further apart by the massive tear in her crotch. Her severed bladder was almost completely torn away from her body, with the last vestiges of her urine dribbling out of it, and her feces were starting to ooze out of her punctured rectum. Above her destroyed excretory organs, Chisato's uterus was also hanging out of the enormous wound, with one Fallopian tube completely dislodged and lying beside one of the halves of her bladder. Blood gushed out of her as Chisato's body twitched, unintelligible sounds coming from her mouth as tears streamed from her eyes.

"No, oh my God, no," cried Rena, falling to her knees beside the dying girl. Even as she desperately summoned up every bit of her healing power, she knew it was pointless; the damage to Chisato's body was far too extensive, and the young woman was dying far too fast. The pain was too immense for Chisato to even move. "Re...na," she whispered, choking quietly, "Noel...I..."

"Don't talk, Chisato!" cried Rena, focusing her power on the girl's ruined groin, and trying not to gag on the sickly iron-smell of blood and the stench of Chisato's feces, which had flowed out of a tear in her exposed rectum. The flesh began to seal, but far too slowly; Chisato was fading too fast. Faintly she heard Precis screaming her name in rage and desperation; but the pain was now fading, and Rena's tear-stained face was beginning to go out of focus. "Noel...I...I must..." Chisato's last gasps faded into silence as she died, her blank eyes and mouth hanging open, the blood flow from the half-healed wound in her crotch stemming as her heart stopped.

"Well, one down, five to go," remarked Lucifer casually, "Go on back and join the others Zaphkiel, very well done."

"You'll pay for that!" screamed Opera, slamming a cartridge into her gun and firing straight at Lucifer. A massive beam of energy lanced out, but Lucifer simply caught it in his hand in a glowing ball of light. "Ah, rage," he said gleefully, casting the energy away, where it hit the ground and erupted in a massive explosion, "The precursor to distraction. Let's see how it serves you - starting with your friend over there."

He gestured at Precis, who was hammering away furiously at Metatron with her robot's drill and hammer arms. But Metatron was skillful; he had lowered his barrier, but was simply too fast for Precis to catch, dodging and parrying her blows with his massive shield and sword, and always keeping Precis herself between him and the rest of the group, not allowing them to support her at long range.

"Precis!" cried Rena, running forward to aid her, but was forced back by a succession of glowing, white-hot bolts from Raphael. Opera turned to shoot at him, but was forced to instead release a flurry of shots to scatter a cluster of fireballs Michael had thrown at them.

"Your anger clouds your concentration, girl," Metatron said calmly, ducking under Precis's drill, then rolling to the side over his shield as he dodged a hammer swing. "I haven't even begun to get serious yet, but as it is, I don't even need to."

"Shut up!" shouted Precis, morphing Robbie's hand into a massive cannon and turning to fire at Metatron, but he was too fast; with a massive swing of his sword he cut off Robbie's gun arm and slammed a gauntleted fist into the robot's kneecap, shattering it. Precis gave a cry of dismay as Robbie lurched, unable to keep its balance. Welch bounded to aid her, but Haniel leaped into the way, swinging a massive fist at her head and forcing her back. Celine desperately launched a flurry of firebolts at Metatron, but the bolts turned in mid-air and flew to Michael instead, who redirected them at Opera, forcing her to fire off a series of freezing shots to counter them. "You may have to think twice about using fire in my presence, girl," laughed Michael.

As Robbie fell, Precis stumbled, almost falling out of the cockpit. With a swift leap and a grab, Metatron reached out, seizing Precis by the shoulder, and plucked her from the cockpit, dashing her violently against the ground. Precis cried out as she felt her arm break. She seized her pack controller with her other hand, but Metatron was too quick; he grabbed the controller from her and crushed it in his mailed fist. An arm sprouted from the pack, flailing wildly as it malfunctioned, and Metatron grabbed the arm and ripped the pack completely off Precis's shoulders, before slamming the flat of his blade straight into her face, knocking her flat onto her back with a howl of pain as her nose broke.

Celine raised her staff; now that Precis had been knocked down, she had a clear shot at Metatron. She cast a scintillating flurry of light bolts at him, hoping to drive him off at least enough to let Rena extricate herself from the pressure Raphael was putting on her and heal Precis, but Metatron simply raised his shield and deflected the bolts, once more putting another of the girls in danger as the deflected attacks rained down around Rena.

With merciless efficiency, Metatron drove his sword down into Precis's stomach, skewering her body and pinning her to the ground. Precis screamed, her body convulsing around the blade in an awful reflexive curve. Metatron calmly raised his foot over her head, and Precis's eyes widened in terror as she realized what was about to happen a split second before it did; Metatron's heavy, metal-booted sole came stomping down onto her face, crushing her skull completely. Blood, gore and creamy-white brain splattered the ground around Precis's crushed head as her body convulsed violently, her legs spreading apart wide. Rena watched in horror as a glistening wet mark formed on Precis's crotch, her urine flowing out of her and soaking through the fabric of both her panties and shorts. Another strong spasm went through the girl's body, and Precis began to urinate in earnest, with each subsequent convulsion causing her bladder to clench and releasing a spurting stream of her urine through the layers of cloth covering her crotch. Blood poured freely out of the shattered remains of Precis's head as her body continued twitching and spasming.

Metatron nonchalantly pulled his sword out of the girl's body, then lifted his foot and rubbed it against the ground to remove Precis's blood, hair and brains. The girls could only cry in shock as Precis died, her body gradually falling still, the wide pool of her urine around her lower body mixing with the blood pooling around her shoulders. Casting a disdainful glance at Precis's dead body, Metatron teleported out.

"And I haven't even really started attacking yet," remarked Lucifer, "Or shall I?"

With a scream of rage, Celine began to throw an unceasing stream of searing stars at Lucifer. "Light elemental attacks?" queried Lucifer, raising his hand and conjuring a curling wisp of inky blackness around it. "I suppose the right answer would then be this." With a wave of his arm, he sent a flurry of shadow bolts to meet Celine's attack, each one capturing and drowning the burning stars.

"Rena!" cried Opera, "We have to work together. They're too strong for each of us alone." She darted to the side, narrowly avoiding Michael's blast of fire. "They're a lot stronger than they were three years ago!" Throwing a prism into the air, she took careful aim and fired a laser at it, splitting the beam into a multitude of smaller rays that forced Michael back momentarily. On Rena's other side, Welch was desperately trying to fend off Haniel, and was clearly tiring as she tried to keep a distance from his powerful fists.

"Help Welch!" shouted Rena, shaking away the tears that had begun streaming anew at Precis's death. Opera rolled over as Welch made a mighty swing with her handy stick, making Haniel halt his attack for a second, before leaping away to give Opera a clearer shot. Opera fired a dazzling clutch of rays at Haniel, who met them head-on with an energy beam fired from his hands. The two attacks clashed, with Haniel's easily overcoming Opera's and hitting the Tetrageniot, petrifying her instantly and shattering the Kaleidoscope weapon.

"Opera!" cried Rena, desperately casting a cure on the woman, and diving to the ground to avoid a bolt of plasma from Raphael that fused the sand where she was standing a moment ago into glass.

Released from the petrification, Opera pulled a hold-out pistol from her thigh holster, but never got to use it; with a flourish of his hands, Haniel cast a tractor beam, the rainbow light washing over Opera and dragging her toward the Wise Man, the pistol falling from her paralyzed grasp. Crying Opera's name, Welch charged at Haniel, but Michael slammed into the ground in front of her, releasing a wave of fire that forced her back.

Haniel caught Opera with a single hand, simultaneously channeling his Blood Scylla and Mental Drain abilities through his fingers. Opera struggled for only a few seconds as her strength was sapped rapidly by the powerful spells cast on her at point-blank range. "A fine woman," Haniel remarked, "I'll see that you die with as little dignity as possible." Seizing the neckline of Opera's dress and the lapel of her jacket, Haniel tore them completely off her body in a single swift motion, leaving Opera clad in only her bra and panties. Another swipe ripped off Opera's bra, causing her breasts to pop into view, bouncing wildly as they were freed from the bra's support. A last swipe tore off Opera's panties, exposing the thick swirls of yellow pubic hair covering the woman's groin and leaving Opera completely naked.

Opera feebly tried to cover herself, crossing one arm over her nipples while covering her underparts with her other hand and pressing her thighs together. "As little dignity as possible," repeated Haniel, upending Opera's body and seizing a slender thigh in each hand. He then wrenched Opera's legs apart with sudden and extreme force. The joints in the woman's crotch snapped audibly as Opera screamed, the agony causing a small stream of yellow urine to spurt out of her urethra as she lost control of her bladder. She began to sob in pain and shame, her breasts and private parts completely exposed, herself too weak to raise her arms to cover them. The sobs turned to screams once more as Haniel continued pulling her thighs in opposite directions with monstrous strength. Opera really lost control of both her bladder and bowels now, beginning to urinate in a steady stream that arced out from her urethra. Her feces began to ooze out of her anus, running down the crack between her buttocks in intermittent masses of semi-solid brown sludge.

"No!" screamed Welch, seeing what was about to happen. She tried to dart around Michael, but Michael was too fast, cutting into her way every time and loosing waves of fire. Rena was at a desperate loss; even if she restored Opera's strength and healed her, the woman was caught unarmed and in the hands of an opponent far stronger than her. Celine was also helpless; she had her hands full staving off Lucifer's stream of shadow bolts, and even if she attacked Haniel, Opera's body was in the way.

"Don't worry ladies," said Haniel, as if reading their minds, "This - she - ends now." He increased the strength of his pulling, and Opera's screams rose in pitch and intensity, mixed now with desperate pleas for mercy. Her quivering labia, already stretched wide open, began to tear along the ends as the flesh of Opera's genitals reached its limit. With a final but seemingly effortless pulse of strength from Haniel, Opera's body ripped apart at the crotch. Her screams turned into a series of gurgles as the tear traveled swiftly down her groin and across her belly, before arcing to the left and going over her left breast and finally completing at her shoulder. A deluge of blood and gore splattered everywhere as Opera's internal organs flowed out of the halves of her body, plopping wetly and bloodily to the ground or hanging from her torn flesh from strings of dripping sinew. Her spine and pelvis hung oddly out of her body while her ribcage remained wedged in her chest. Opera's arms flailed wildly, though the girls couldn't tell if it was from Opera's final spasms or the violent motion of her body tearing apart.

Haniel threw the half of Opera's body that had her head attached at Rena, dropping the other beside the grisly pile of intestines and organs at his feet. "So much for working together," he commented, before he too teleported away.

Rena fell to her knees, speechless with horror. A tiny mote of life remained in Opera's eyes as she stared up at Rena, her mouth moving wordlessly. Tears and saliva were streaming from Opera's eyes and mouth as the ground turned red under her remains. She died seconds later, the light fading from her open eyes, and her heart, visible in her exposed ribcage, ceased its feeble twitching.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading thus far; I was originally intending this chapter to be just one, but decided it was far too long and split it into two.<p>

The next chapter will be the last, and I hope you will enjoy it.


	3. To The Death II

"Please, stop!" cried Rena, "No more!" She looked up pleadingly at Lucifer.

"Ha! _Now_ you want to talk?" Michael exclaimed, roaring with laughter. He jumped high into the air, surrounding himself in a raging aura of flame, before diving straight at Rena, who stood, frozen in shock and grief.

"No!" shouted Celine, redirecting her attacks toward the charging Michael, who broke through them with ease. "Rena!" cried Welch, diving toward her and swinging out her handy stick, which swiped Rena out of the way just as Michael's searing fist plowed into the ground where she was a second ago.

"Your friends will die for your weakness," commented Raphael to Rena, launching a series of shocking blasts at Welch, who dodged them and charged him. He engaged in a series of teleports, leaving Welch completely stumped as to where to turn. "I'll have you know that what I have unleashed thus far was only a fraction of what I can do." He teleported right beside Welch, who swung at him immediately, but saw the trap far too late. Raphael released a wave of paralyzing electricity, which washed over Welch and sent her staggering backward, her arms spasming erratically.

"Welch! Please, no!" cried Rena, raising her hands to cast a cure, when the ground exploded in front of her, knocking her onto her back, her head reeling. Lucifer lowered his hand, trails of red energy rising from his fingers. "I suppose it's time we ended this charade.," he said, floating down. Behind them, Celine was trying to hold Michael off with a barrage of light balls.

Raphael raised his sleeves, lightning arcing between them as he stared at Welch, who finally broke free from her paralysis and fell to her knees, exhausted. "Ready to die, girl?" he asked.

"In your dreams, you lousy Jawa," growled Welch, "Was that the best you got?" She struggled to her feet and began to run at Raphael.

"An Earthling reference," said Raphael, "Amusing. And to your query, that was, in fact, _not_ the best I had. But if you insist, I suppose I shall honor with you with...a greater fraction...of my best."

The bolts of lightning were so intense they were white, and so fast that Welch couldn't have reacted in time even if she was not wounded. The attack struck her and held her in the air as the massive current coursed through her body, which spasmed and convulsed wildly. The pain was atrocious, but Welch could not even scream as her entire body seized up. The muscles in her bladder clenched violently, causing her urine to spurt out of her crotch and through both her panties and tights as she lost control of herself. A second later, her feces followed, clumping up in the back of her panties, with some mixing with her urine and running down the leg of her tights.

Rena fell to her knees in front of Lucifer. "Please! Please stop!" she pleaded. Looking past Lucifer, she called out tearfully to Raphael. "Please stop hurting her."

Raphael withdrew his arms, ending his lightning attack, leaving Welch standing with her body smoking and trembling helplessly and her eyes blank and staring, brown excretory matter dripping from her crotch and forming a small pool on the ground between her legs, while more ran down the side of her thighs and calves into her boots. "Very well," said Raphael, "I will grant your wish. I will _kill her painlessly_."

Before Rena or Celine could react, a small crackling ball of electricity appeared in front of Raphael, which then launched itself as a bolt of plasma straight at Welch. It hit the girl directly in the face, glowed briefly for a split second, and exploded, blowing away most of the front of Welch's head and knocking her backward several steps, though her body amazingly remained on its feet. Bits of bloodied gore, brains, skull fragments and teeth flew everywhere. Welch's arms reflexively reached up, her hands feebly feeling the remains of her head. Her almost-headless body staggered around several steps, before wavering and falling to her knees. Blood flowed out of her ruined skull and down the front of her dress as a sigh escaped from her trachea in a tiny geyser of red mist. Welch's body remained on her knees for several seconds more, as her trembling hands gradually settled down to her sides. The girl's body then folded, falling fairly gently on her side, beside the puddle of her bodily waste. Her legs were tucked over each other, with the accumulated feces in the crotch of her underwear forming a clear bulge in between her inner thighs. Blood continued to flow sluggishly out of her destroyed skull, mixing with her excretions into a reddish-brown mass which soaked into the ground. Welch's body twitched weakly several times before gradually settling into death and falling still.

"As you requested," said Raphael, turning his back on Welch's remains, "I am sure she felt little to no pain." He teleported away.

Celine cried out in grief and fear. Only she and Rena were left, and judging by the ease with which the other girls had been killed, they were likely soon to follow. "We must run," she said desperately to Rena, "They've grown more powerful; more than we can handle."

"But there's nowhere to go!" cried Rena. The area was an open ground, with no cover at all.

"Very true," remarked Michael, igniting both his fists and walking toward them, "End of the line, girls."

Celine turned and screamed an incantation, wishing to the Gods that she had learned some Water-elemental spells like Leon had. Her most powerful spells were Fire and Light-elemental, and fire was completely ineffective against Michael.

But she never finished her incantation before she was struck full in the solar plexus by a massive punch. Michael was suddenly standing directly in front of her. "What - argh!" she choked as another punch landed on her belly, causing her to drop to her fours, her stomach heaving. A second later she threw up, vomiting a mass of the lunch they had earlier onto the ground.

"Magic," sneered Michael, "Did you remember me as someone who used that a whole lot? All I've done in this fight was stay at a distance and cast fire spells. Did you think that was anywhere near the height of my combat ability?" He quick-stepped behind the retching girl, who was still on all fours, unable to rise. "No, my forte is the brutality of hand-to-hand combat!" And he threw a massive kick right at Celine, his foot going up in between her thighs and smashing into the girl's crotch with a sickening, slapping crunch. Celine's pubic bone shattered instantly as her body was thrown over her head onto her back by the force of the blow. She screamed with pain, her hands clutching herself tightly in between her legs as she rolled onto her side in agony.

"No, please don't!" screamed Rena. She threw herself down on all fours in front of the bemused Lucifer. "Please don't kill her! I beg you! Please!"

"And what then would we do with you?" asked Lucifer softly, "Let you go free? No, you will gather strength and lead a rebellion against us. Imprison you? No, you will find a way to escape eventually. Cripple you? What is the point of living after that?"

Rena was speechless. She no longer knew what to say or do.

Michael walked over to the moaning Celine. Vomit, blood and saliva were flowing out of her mouth, and tears from her eyes. Between her fingers, clasped tightly over her shattered crotch, blood and urine flowed. She looked up at Michael, her eyes beseeching. "Please," she begged.

"It was either you or me, lady," said Michael, in a quiet voice that shocked Celine, "And it still is." His fists clenched once more.

"No, please!" Celine's pleas turned to screams and gasps as the next blow, a vicious chop, sank into her side, rupturing her kidney. Another punch struck her in the cheek, tearing the skin and ripping out half her teeth. The punching hand then seized her neck and lifted her bodily in the air. "I got the idea from Haniel," he said, gripping the neckline of her purple dress. "So blame him for the indignity of your demise." With a swipe of his arm, he ripped off her dress, leaving her in the white strips of cloth she had wrapped over her breasts and underparts.

"No!" cried Rena, running at Michael and forsaking her own safety entirely. Something that felt like a razored rope suddenly grabbed her ankle, however, sending her crashing to the ground on her front with a cry of pain. Lucifer had conjured a mass of what looked like glowing serrated wire, and had lassoed her with it. More wire lashed out, snaking around her wrists and other ankle, and pinned her painfully to the ground.

Celine turned her body, still pleading for her life, and grabbed Michael's arm in supplication. Michael seized her arm and twisted it backward, breaking it completely off her shoulder joint, then sank another blow into her belly, knocking the air out of her, and then another massive punch into her groin, crushing the poor girl's clitoris into the shattered remnants of her pubic bone. Celine screamed with extreme pain, her intact arm scrabbling desperately at Michael. Blood had already begun to flow out of Celine's genital area from the previous blow she had received there, but it now began bleeding in earnest, the red stain on her underwear spreading across her entire crotch and groin, mixing with yellow liquid as Celine began to urinate uncontrollably in pain. Michael then seized her left breast, and with a vicious tug, ripped it completely off her body along with the cloth covering her chest.

Celine's shrieks reached a new level as her body convulsed with the pain. Blood ran down her chest and belly from the ragged hole where her breast had been, joining the blood running down her legs from her crotch. Michael squeezed Celine's dripping breast, blood and bright yellow fat oozing from between his fingers as he did so. Abruptly, he dropped the breast and threw her into the air, seized her knees as she was falling down, spread her legs apart, and slammed her crotch down onto the small of his knee. Celine vomited again in pain as the blow connected, smashing the most sensitive parts of her body into her pelvis, which itself fractured from the impact. Another massive blow to the base of her rib cage shattered her ribs, driving them up into her lungs and slicing the vital organs apart.

Celine was losing consciousness. Dimly she could still hear Rena begging for her life. She could barely even see anymore, through the tears in her eyes and the black spots that were appearing in her vision. Michael lifted her battered, twitching body. Her one remaining breast quivered limply. "As little dignity as possible," he said, echoing Haniel, as he grabbed the cloth covering Celine's underparts and ripped it off, exposing her smashed and bloodied vulva, from which blood and urine was issuing freely. Celine barely felt the underwear being torn off her body. Michael then reared back, igniting his hand, and stabbed his fingers at Celine's solar plexus. The powerful blow burned and tore through the girl's skin and flesh, and Michael's hand plunged deep into Celine's abdomen. The girl's body spasmed violently, though only a muted cry came from her. Michael felt Celine's spine and gripped it, almost snapping the girl in half in the process. He then pulled his hand out of Celine and dropped her naked body to the ground. Celine's body landed with her legs spread, her arms limp at her side, the massive hole in her torso leaking blood. She twitched several times, whimpers coming from her throat, which quickly turned into gurgles as bloodied foam bubbled up between her lips. Then her head lolled onto her side and she died, the flow of tears from her lifeless eyes stemming.

Michael turned to look at Rena, held down tightly to the ground by Lucifer's bladed wire. "A disappointing performance," he said simply, before teleporting away.

Rena sobbed quietly on the ground, helplessly immobilized by the wire, which she now realized was sapping her symbological power. All of the other girls were dead, and she knew she was soon to follow. Her ankles and wrists were cut and bleeding from the serrations on the wires. Abruptly they tugged her upward, holding her in the air aloft in front of Lucifer.

"So much for your bravado," sneered Lucifer, "Now, you die."

"Please," begged Rena tearfully, "Please, at least let me see Claude again. Just one last time."

"And what, bust them out of that rubble and risk them all being still alive and teaming up on me?" snapped Lucifer, "No, girl...I shall send you to join your slain friends; and you shall leave this world alone."

The wires lifted her higher, and those ensnaring her ankles began to tug them apart, spreading her legs open. Still she rose, until she floated above Lucifer, who looked up her short skirt with disdain. "It ends," he said simply.

Another mass of serrated wires weaved themselves into existence in front of Lucifer, and he aimed their bladed points directly at the girl's visible panties. "No!" cried Rena, as she saw what was coming. "Please, not there! Not that!" She began to urinate in terror, her urine soaking through her panties and splattering onto the ground under her. "Please, I beg you!"

"Humiliation before death," snarled Lucifer, bracing the wires in preparation to kill Rena. "But the conclusion will remain unchanged."

With a flick of his finger the wires leapt upward at Rena's crotch, tearing easily through her pink panties and plunging into her vagina, urethra, and anus all at once. Blood splattered out. Rena screeched, her body jerking violently. The wires writhed and thrashed, the serrations on them slicing apart her labia and clitoris and cutting deep into the walls of her vagina. Rena's urine and feces ran freely out of her urethra and anus as she lost control of her bladder and bowels. Still the wires pushed upward, forcing and cutting their way deeper into her body. Those that had entered Rena via her vagina had now penetrated her uterus and ovaries, and were slicing apart her reproductive organs. The wires in her urethra had burst her bladder, causing a gushing stream of urine to spurt out of her ruined crotch, while those inside her anus had pierced through her rectum, resulting in a flow of Rena's semi-solid fecal matter dribbling out of her and through the holes torn in her panties by the merciless barbs.

Methodically, Lucifer directed the wires to work their way up Rena's body while the girl's shrieks continued. The wires shredded Rena's uterus, then rose to cut apart her intestines and stomach. More blood flowed out of the holes torn in Rena's crotch from the massive internal bleeding. The wires rose up her body, and Rena's screams began to turn to choking gasps as they punctured her lungs, causing her to cough up blood. But Lucifer avoided her heart; he wanted the girl to suffer as much as possible.

With a wave of his hands the wires scattered in her body, some of them bursting out of Rena's chest and breasts, tearing through the fabric of her bra and dress. A few others pierced and sliced their way up her throat, turning her gurgling cries into strangling gasps and eventually hoarse whimpers as they burst out of her mouth, hovering in front of Rena's shocked and tear-filled eyes. Blood flowed out of every puncture wound that the wires had made in her body on their way out, soaking her dress and forming dark, glistening splotches over the blue cloth.

The carnage stilled. Rena's ravaged body drifted in the air, twitching and spasming weakly, still held aloft by the wires wrapped around her wrists and ankles, and now also by the many penetrating her. Gradually, Lucifer withdrew the wires that were inside Rena, pulling them down and out of the orifices in her savaged crotch. Rena's excretory matter had all drained out of her now, and the ground under her body was a stinking quagmire of blood, gore, urine and feces. Her blood still flowed sluggishly out of her crotch, however, as her failing heart struggled on in its last seconds.

Lucifer lowered Rena's body, then removed the last wires around her ankles and wrists. The girl's body dropped to the ground with a soft thud, her arms and legs crudely splayed. Weak twitches still ran through her body, and strange noises came from within her ruined throat. A little pool of blood formed in front of Rena's crotch. The eyes in her tear-stained face stared blankly up at the sky.

Rena was dying, the raging pain slowly fading away. 'Claude..." the thought echoed in the last vestiges of her consciousness. 'Are you alive? Please, be alive. But I don't want you to see me like this. I couldn't defend us. I don't want to die. I want to see you.' And as she was still thinking, Rena died.

Lucifer stood over her ruined body, lying spread eagle beside the puddle of her blood and excretions. "If it's any consolation," he said softly, though he knew Rena could no longer hear, "We are not interested in this pathetic galaxy. There are far more valuable galaxies to rule. Far more power to be found and wielded."

And, turning on his heel, he vanished.

* * *

><p>Thank you very much for reading my short story for Star Ocean - Second Evolution!<p>

As I have mentioned in my other work, I do not, in any way, support violence against _anyone_. This story is purely for fictional entertainment.

Now that this is complete, I will continue my work on my war novel, Humanity and the Creatures. Please look it up as well.

Cheers to all, and I hope you my readers will continue enjoying my work.


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